BERLIN — A chance comment by Angela Merkel in a debate hosted by Brigitte magazine started a chain reaction that, in the space of less than a week, saw parliament legalize same-sex marriage — something she has long opposed — in its last session before autumn elections.

For gays and lesbians in Germany, Friday’s vote in the Bundestag — which passed the bill by 393 votes to 226, with the chancellor opposing the move — means they can soon get married and adopt children.

For the chancellor, who blocked such legislation for more than a decade, it means a political defeat for her conservatives — though it also rids her of a toxic issue for the rest of the campaign leading up to the election on September 24.

“Merkel realized that by holding on to her ‘No’ to marriage equality, she no longer has anything to gain but much to lose,” Volker Beck, a veteran lawmaker for the opposition Greens and prominent gay rights advocate, told POLITICO.

With three out of four party groups in the Bundestag supporting the law — outnumbering the conservatives — it was widely expected to pass and will be effective later this year, pending signature by the president, since the upper house (the Bundesrat) has already approved it.

Question of conscience

Opinion polls suggest a vast majority of Germans support full marriage rights for same-sex couples.

With only Merkel’s conservatives and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) against it — the AfD doesn’t yet have any seats in the Bundestag — the issue was widely expected to be at the center of this year’s election campaign, but no one expected an actual vote.

Two weeks ago, the Greens — a potential coalition partner for both Merkel’s conservatives and her key rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD) led by Martin Schulz — said that for them, it would be a precondition for any coalition talks. Soon afterward, both the Free Democrats (FDP) — another potential partner for Merkel’s conservatives — and the SPD followed suit.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and chief editor of German women’s monthly Brigitte, Brigitte Huber attend an interview on the stage of the Maxim Gorki theatre in front of a live audience in Berlin on June 26, 2017 | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

In an attempt to wait things out, Merkel’s conservatives agreed in a meeting on Sunday to push the issue until after the election when they would put same-sex marriage to the vote in the Bundestag, according to an official from the Christian Democrats (CDU), who form the conservative bloc together with Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU).

Then something unexpected happened.

On Monday evening, as she was taking part in a panel discussion hosted by the lifestyle magazine Brigitte, a man asked Merkel when he would “finally be able to call my boyfriend my husband.”

The chancellor said she was in the process of changing her opinion on the issue — but rather than making it a campaign topic, she would like it to be “more like a Gewissensentscheidung, a question of conscience.” In parliamentary terms, that lets MPs vote free of their party whip.

Her political rivals seized on this half sentence.

“It was Merkel’s own ‘Schabowski moment,’” said Johannes Kahrs, an MP and spokesman on gay and lesbian issues for the SPD, referring to the East German official Günter Schabowski, who accidentally revealed in 1989 that citizens of the GDR would be free to travel to the West.

Working through the night from Monday to Tuesday, Schulz’s Social Democrats came up with a strategy. By coincidence, they had already scheduled a large-scale press conference for Tuesday morning. There, Schulz announced that he had asked SPD lawmakers to get in touch with the two opposition parties to use their majority to push through a vote this week — the last week the current parliament is in session.

A day later, the SPD, Greens and far-left Die Linke outvoted the conservatives at committee level, clearing the way for Friday’s vote in the Bundestag.

Off the table

CDU officials privately say that Friday’s vote will help Merkel’s campaign ahead of the election, despite being a minor political setback.

On the whole, things are currently looking promising for the German chancellor and her bid for a fourth consecutive term.

Merkel has surged in the polls while former European Parliament President Schulz has plummeted. Merkel’s conservatives are now at 40 percent of voter intentions, leading the SPD by 17 points, according to a recent survey by Forsa.

The opposition has struggled to find issues to help them attack Merkel, and strategists in the CDU had feared that same-sex marriage could give them ammunition, especially since even 73 percent of her own conservative supporters back equal rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Martin Schulz (2ndL), leader of Germany’s Social Democrat party (SPD) and candidate for chancellor poses with guests, among them moderator Alfonso Pantisano (2ndR) and a rainbow colored flag on June 28, 2017 during the “courtyard-party” (Hoffest) of the SPD’s parliamentary group at the “Haus der Kulturen der Welt” in Berlin | Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images

That the vote was tabled by the SPD and other opposition parties made it easier for the conservative minority who do oppose same-sex marriage to vote against it, say CDU officials.

However, they shouldn’t expect the issue to disappear from sight now the law has gone through.

“Merkel’s conservatives have blocked marriage equality for years — Merkel personally since 2005,” said the SPD’s Kahrs. “I have a memory, and so do other people.”

Beck from the Greens pointed out that Friday’s session was an open vote, with the parliamentary protocol documenting which MPs voted for or against the bill. “Let’s remember who does not vote for the law on Friday and tries to push the decision at the last minute,” said Beck.

Right to adopt

More than 7 percent of the German population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a 2016 study by Dalia Research.

In 2001, Germany introduced civil unions for same-sex couples and has expanded their rights gradually since then, though not the institution of marriage. Lawyers say that giving gay and lesbian couples full equality means they should also be able to adopt children. Currently, gays and lesbians are only allowed to adopt as individuals, or to adopt the children of their spouses as step-children.

Beyond this, the introduction of full marriage rights will put an end to gays and lesbians being “second-class citizens,” said Beck, stressing its importance for fighting lingering prejudice in German society.

“We still have a high level of hate crime against homosexuals,” he said. “We have prejudice in school yards and at the pub. It has an impact if lawmakers say that people have an equal worth and the same rights. It creates an example of respect for society.”

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Kendall

Stop trying to promote homosexuality as it is wrong.

Posted on 6/30/17 | 6:41 AM CEST

de Vogue

No one should mix up feelings with institutions.

Posted on 6/30/17 | 8:40 AM CEST

Rob

@Kendall Wrong how? The world is already over-populated. Gays have fewer children than heterosexuals, so this, in effect, helps the planet. Would you force gays into heterosexual relationships? That would create so much happiness. @sarcasm Also, @Kendall, I am curious as to what your browser history would tell us. @lol

Posted on 6/30/17 | 8:55 AM CEST

glasspix 1

I would imagine the only reason she voted against gay marriage was to avoid offending Germany’s Muslims and increase her voter base among them. No one should assume that there is a shread of conviction in what this woman does, it is only cold calculated politics.

Posted on 6/30/17 | 10:40 AM CEST

holger

Marriage for all, basic income for all, the right of migration for all, university diploma for all, right to vote for all, free use of the public transport for all, no fees for public media for all, everything for everyone – only responsibility for no one.

Posted on 6/30/17 | 2:01 PM CEST

Veritas-Semper

Well, Merkel can now have her “schab” and eat it too. As you said, it “rids of her of a toxic issue”. She is no longer a lowly scientist, but a “skilled” politician after all. Who would have suspected…

Posted on 6/30/17 | 2:42 PM CEST

Louis Anthes

How do you say, “oops”, in German? 😉

Posted on 6/30/17 | 9:26 PM CEST

AnnadelSol

There just isn’t any limit to the hypocrisy and sleaziness for the power hungry christian filth and their ‘secret’ agenda.
Ah well, they let the enemy in and it’ll be exactly them who’ll exterminate the christians first. We will call it for what it is: The Laws of Darwin >:-)